Alden R. Carter Papers, 1960-1997 Summary Information Title: Alden R. Carter Papers Inclusive Dates: 1960-1997 Creator: Carter, Alden R., 1947- Call Number: Eau Claire Mss CJ Quantity: 8.6 c.f. (26 archives boxes including 5 videorecordings) and 27 megabytes (3240+ data files, in 1 computer disk box) Repository: Housed at the Area Research Center, William D. McIntyre Library, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Library-Archives Division Archival Locations: UW-Eau Claire McIntyre Library / Eau Claire Area Research Ctr. Abstract: Papers of a Wisconsin writer of fiction and non-fiction for young adults, including book proposals, drafts, notes, galley proofs, publicity materials, high school and college term papers, and correspondence with publishers, editors, and agents. Videotaped interviews and talks by Carter are also present. Note: There is a restriction on use of this collection; see details in the Restriction/Administrative Information portion of this finding aid.

Language: English Search Terms Subject Terms

o Authors

Biography/History

Alden Richardson Carter was born April 7, 1947, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to John Kelley Carter and Hilda Richardson Carter (Fletcher). Graduating from Eau Claire Memorial High School in 1965, Carter continued his education with a Navy ROTC scholarship at

the University of Kansas, earning a bachelors degree in English and humanities. He graduated in 1969 and went into the Navy as an officer for the next five years. In 1974, after his stint in the Navy, Carter married Carol Shadis, whom he had met nine years before. As Carter says, “we were in love almost from the first.” Carter went on to earn his teaching certificate from Montana State University, then taught English and journalism in Marshfield, Wis.

Carter had known since he was eight that he wanted to write; he also knew that he was not finding the necessary time to write as a teacher. So, in 1980 with the support of his wife, Carter quit his job and began writing full-time. Growing Season was published by Coward-McCann in 1984 and was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults.

Carter's mother Hilda Carter Fletcher has been his “first editor” for most of his books and her comments appear on many of the manuscripts throughout the collection. His literary agent encouraged him to write young adult nonfiction between fiction books. He coauthored his first nonfiction book, Supercomputers, with his brother-in-law, Wayne LeBlanc, with whom Carter also wrote his second nonfiction book, Modern Electronics. Carter continued writing young-adult fiction as well. Wart, Son of Toad (1985), Sheila's Dying (1987), and Up Country (1989) were all named ALA Best Books and Robodad (1990) (later reissued as Dancing on Dark Water (1993)) was named Best Children's Fiction Book of the Year by the Society of Midland Authors. Carter's nonfiction subjects range from China and the Revolutionary War, to computers and radios. His books have won a variety of awards.

Carter has been a resident of Marshfield, Wisconsin, since 1976. He and his wife have two children, Brian Patrick Shadis Carter (born 1983) and Siri Morgan Shadis Carter (born 1987). Carter's hobbies include travel, reading, canoeing, and outdoor activities, especially in Wisconsin.

Publications of Alden R. Carter Growing Season (1984) Wart, Son of Toad (1985) Sheila's Dying (1987) Up Country (1989) T ”Tree” (short story, 1989) Robodad (1990), reissued as Dancing on Dark Water (1993) Dogwolf (1994) Between a Rock and a Hard Place (1995) B Bull Catcher” (short story 1996) Bull Catcher (1997) ”The Gully” (short story 1997)

T ”Trashback” (short story 1997) ”Jock Story” (short story 1998) Crescent Moon (1999) Supercomputers (with Wayne LeBlanc, 1985) Modern China (1986) Modern Electronics (with Wayne LeBlanc, 1986) Illinois (1987) Radio: From Marconi to the Space Age (1987)

American Revolution Series: Colonies in Revolt (1988) American Revolution Series: Darkest Hours (1988) American Revolution Series: At the Forge of Liberty (1988) American Revolution Series: Birth of the Republic (1988) The Shoshoni (1989) The Battle of Gettysburg (1990) The Last Stand at the Alamo (1990) The Colonial Wars: Clashes in the Wilderness (1992) The War of 1812: Second Fight for Independence (1992) The Mexican War: Manifest Destiny (1992) The Civil War (1992) The Spanish-American War: Imperial Ambitions (1992) Battle of the Ironclads: The Monitor and the Merrimack (1993) China Past--China Future (1994) I’m Tougher than Asthma (with Siri Carter, 1996) Big Brother Dustin (1997) Seeing Things My Way (1998) Dustin's Big School Day (1999)

Scope and Content Note

The collection includes all stages of the writing process for Carter's fiction and nonfiction, plus publicity information and papers written in high school (starting in 1959) and college. The papers detail the writing and publishing process from first drafts to the search for a publisher to galleys to how a successful writer goes about developing ideas for the next book. There are only a few personal letters, but much correspondence with publishers, editors and agents. The papers are grouped in nine series: Early Life, Book-Length Fiction, Book-Length Nonfiction, Short Stories, Speeches, Unpublished Book Proposals and Ideas, Biographical Information, Electronic Drafts and Correspondence, and Video Tapes. Within series, the materials are arranged largely in chronological order (by publishing date for books).

The Book-Length Fiction and Book-Length Nonfiction series may include notes for the book, drafts of the book, correspondence (including rewrite notes), galleys, and page proofs. In China Past--China Future, there are two manuscript copies from his book Modern China which Carter used for research purposes in the second China book. In Radio: From Marconi to the Space Age there is a manuscript titled “Modern Communications,” an earlier title for what became Radio.

The Short Stories series may contain notes drafts, correspondence and galleys. Unpublished Book Proposals and Ideas are chronological by date, with undated proposals in the back. This series may contain notes, outlines, proposal letters, and other correspondence. The Electronic Drafts and Correspondence series is on computer disks and contains materials from most of his books plus correspondence, material from speaking engagements, and other miscellaneous information. Carter's explanation of

his file-naming system is located in box 1, folder 1. All of Carter's related computer files now reside on the Global-1 server at UWEC and can be accessed in Special Collections; they are regularly backed up. The first nine original disks also exist in Word 5.1 for Macintosh and the cross platform Word '98 format. Finally there is a series of Video Tapes.

Administrative/Restriction Information Use Restrictions

Copyright in this collection is retained by Alden Carter, his heirs and assigns. All users are cautioned that most manuscripts included in the collection have been published in their final form as books under rights granted by the author to various publishers.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Alden R. Carter, Marshfield, Wis., 1994-1997. Accession Number: M94-209

Processing Information

Processed by Daardi Sizemore, 1996-97 and Jennifer Snyder, 1999, at the Eau Claire Area Research Center.

Contents List Box 1 Folder 1 Series: Copy of this finding aid

Series: Early Life, 1959-1970

Box 1 Folder 2-4

High school papers

Box 1 Folder 5 Kansas University college papers

Box 1 Folder 6 Montana State University college papers

Box 1 Folder 7 Other papers

Series: Book-Length Fiction

Box 1 Folder 5 Growing Season(1984)

Box 2 Folder 1 Handwritten rough manuscript

Box 2 Folder 2 Typed manuscript

Box 2 Folder 3 Revised manuscript

Box 2 Folder 4 Revised typed manuscript

Box 2 Folder 5-6

Major revision of manuscript

Box 3 Folder 1-2

Manuscript with editing marks

Box 3 Folder 3 Correspondence

Box 3 Folder 4 Rewrite notes

Box 3 Folder 5 Galleys and specifications

Wart, Son of Toad(1985) Box 4 Folder 1 Notes

Box 4 Folder 2 Original manuscript (handwritten)

Box 4 Folder 3 Original manuscript typed

Box 4 Folder 4 Manuscript with editor's comments

Box 4 Folder 5 Rewrite notes and correspondence

Box 4 Folder 6 Page proofs

Sheila's Dying(1987) Box 5 Folder 1 Notes

Box 5 Folder 2- Manuscript with typesetting orders

3

Box 5 Folder 4 Partial manuscript with editor's comments

Box 5 Folder 5 Rewrite notes and correspondence

Box 5 Folder 6 Galleys

Up Country(1989) Box 6 Folder 1 Notes

Box 6 Folder 2 Original manuscript

Box 6 Folder 3-4

Revised manuscript

Box 6 Folder 5 Galleys

Robodad(1990) Box 7 Folder 1 Notes

Box 7 Folder 2 Manuscript with editor's notes

Box 7 Folder 3 Manuscript with typesetting orders

Box 7 Folder 4 Correspondence and rewrite notes

Box 7 Folder 5 Galleys with edit

Box 7 Folder 6 Galleys

Box 7 Folder 7 Page proofs

Dancing on Dark Water (reissue of Robodad) (1993) Box 7 Folder 8 New cover picture

Dogwolf(1994)

Box 8 Folder 1 Notes

Box 8 Folder 2-3

Early manuscript

Box 8 Folder 4-5

Edited manuscript

Box 8 Folder 6-7

Final manuscript

Box 8 Folder 8 Correspondence and rewrite notes

Box 9 Folder 1 Galleys with heavy editing

Box 9 Folder 2 Galleys with less editing

Box 9 Folder 3 Page proofs

Between a Rock and a Hard Place(1995) Box 10 Folder 1 Manuscript

Box 10 Folder 2 Manuscript

Box 10 Folder 3 Working draft of manuscript

Box 10 Folder 4-5

Early manuscript with edit

Box 10 Folder 6 Early manuscript with editor's edit

Box 10 Folder 7 Late working manuscript

Box 11 Folder 1 Late working manuscript, continued

Box 11 Folder 2-3

Galleys

Bull Catcher(1997) Box 12 Folder 1 Between Third and Home proposal (later Bull Catcher)

Box 12 Folder 2

Possible titles and early manuscript labeled as Catching Fire

Box 12 Folder 3 Catching Fire early manuscript

Box 12 Folder 4-5

Manuscript 1st revision

Box 12 Folder 6-7

Edited manuscript version

Box 23 Folder 1-2

Revision 2 (corrected by Graham Olson-longtime baseball coach)

Box 23 Folder 3 Edited draft

Box 23 Folder 4 Section of manuscript, Spring 1993

Box 23 Folder 5 Inserts

Box 23 Folder 6 Long excerpts

Box 23 Folder 7-8

Galleys

Box 23 Folder 9 Edited manuscript, miscellaneous pages

Box 26 Folder 6 Correspondence and rewrite notes

Box 26 Folder 7 Publication agreement and correspondence

Box 26 Folder 8 Manuscript - 4045 word count

Box 26 Folder 9 Manuscript - 6143 word count

Crescent Moon(1999)

Box 13 Folder 1 1st complete draft, 1996 July

Box 26 Folder 10

Manuscript - Comments/edits by Larry Lynch with cover letter, 1996 August 6

Box 26 Folder 11

Manuscript - Comments /edits by Hilda Carter Fletcher, 1996 August/September

Series: Book -Length Nonfiction

Supercomputers(1985) Box 14 Folder 1-4

Notes

Box 14 Folder 5

The 5th Generation - book, with notes, used as reference in Supercomputers

Box 14 Folder 6 Manuscript

Box 14 Folder 7 Correspondence and rewrite notes

Box 14 Folder 8 Galleys

Modern China(1986) Box 15 Folder 1 Notes

Box 15 Folder 2 Manuscript with edit

Box 15 Folder 3 Manuscript with David Changs edit

Box 15 Folder 4 Manuscript with typesetting orders

Box 15 Folder 5 Correspondence and rewrite notes

Box 15 Folder 6 Page proofs

Modern Electronics(1986) Box 16 Folder 1 Notes

Box 16 Folder 2 Edited manuscript with original illustrations

Box 16 Folder 3 Correspondence

Illinois(1987) Box 16 Folder 4 Notes

Box 16 Folder 5 Rough manuscript

Box 16 Folder 6 Correspondence

Box 16 Folder 7 Galleys

Radio: From Marconi to the Space Age(1987) Box 16 Folder 8 Notes

Box 16 Folder 9

Modern Communications - became Radio: ... 18 months before publication

Box 16 Folder 10 Manuscript with edit and typesetting orders

Box 16 Folder 11 Rewrite notes and correspondence

Box 16 Folder 12 Galleys

American Revolution series: Colonies in Revolt(1988), Darkest Hours(1988), At the Forge of Liberty(1988), Birth of the Republic(1988)

Box 17 Folder 1 Notes

Box 17 Folder 2 Correspondence and notes

The Shoshoni(1989) Box 17 Folder 3 Notes

Box 17 Folder 4 Manuscript

Box 17 Folder 5 Correspondence and rewrite notes

Box 17 Galleys

Folder 6

The Battle of Gettysburg(1990) Box 17 Folder 7 Notes

Box 17 Folder 8 Manuscript

Box 17 Folder 9 Correspondence and rewrite notes

Box 17 Folder 10 Galleys

Box 26 Folder 1 Reference sheet

The Last Stand at the Alamo(1990) Box 17 Folder 11 Notes

Box 17 Folder 12 Correspondence and rewrite notes

Box 17 Folder 13 Galleys

The Colonial Wars: Clashes in the Wilderness(1992) Box 17 Folder 14 Notes

Box 17 Folder 15 Early manuscript with edit

Box 17 Folder 16 Revised manuscript

Box 17 Folder 17 Correspondence

Box 17 Folder 18 Galleys with specifications

Box 17 Folder 19 Maps

The American Revolution: War for Independence(1992) Box 18 Folder 1 Notes

Box 18 Maps and pictures

Folder 2

Box 18 Folder 3 Early manuscript

Box 18 Folder 4 Manuscript

Box 18 Folder 5 Revised manuscript

Box 18 Folder 6 Correspondence

Box 18 Folder 7 Galleys and specifications

The War of 1812: Second Fight For Independence(1992) Box 18 Folder 8 Notes

Box 18 Folder 9 Early manuscript with edit

Box 18 Folder 10 Revised manuscript

Box 18 Folder 11 Correspondence

Box 18 Folder 12 Galleys

The Mexican War: Manifest Destiny(1992) Box 18 Folder 13 Notes

Box 18 Folder 14 Manuscript

Box 18 Folder 15 Copy-edited and fact-checked manuscript

Box 18 Folder 16 Correspondence

Box 18 Folder 17 Galleys

The Civil War(1992) Box 19 Folder 1 Notes

Box 19 Folder 2 Edited manuscript

Box 19 Folder 3 Correspondence

Box 19 Folder 4 Galleys

Box 19 Folder 5 Page proofs

The Spanish-American War: Imperial Ambitions(1992) Box 19 Folder 6 Notes

Box 19 Folder 7 Manuscript

Box 19 Folder 8 Correspondence

Box 19 Folder 9 Galleys

Box 19 Folder 10 Page proofs

Battle of the Ironclads: The Monitor and the Merrimack(1993)

Box 19 Folder 11 Notes

Box 19 Folder 12 Manuscript

Box 19 Folder 13 Correspondence

Box 19 Folder 14 Galleys

China Past--China Future(1994) Box 20 Folder 1 Notes

Box 20 Folder 2 Notes-reference

Box 20 Folder 3

Modern China revised manuscript with edit by David Chang

Box 20 Modern China page proofs with notes

Folder 4

Box 20 Folder 5 Revised manuscript

Box 20 Folder 6 Correspondence and rewrite notes

Box 20 Folder 7 Manuscript rough pages

Box 20 Folder 8 Page proofs

Box 20 Folder 9 Manuscript rough pages

Box 20 Folder 10 Galleys

I'm Tougher than Asthma(1996) Box 24 Folder 1 Galleys (copy of faxed original)

Box 27 Folder 1 Proposal for book - known as Siri's Asthma

Box 27 Folder 2 Correspondence and rewrite notes

Box 27 Folder 3

Photocopy of the book Where's Chimpy? by Bernice Rabe, a book about a girl with Down's Syndrome

Box 27 Folder 4

Picture of dust mite at x150 magnification: color photocopy, note included

Box 27 Folder 5 Book mock-up

Box 27 Folder 6-7

Page mock-up (post-it notes)

Box 27 Folder 8 Handwritten mock-up

Box 27 Folder 9 Introduction by Carol S. Carter - draft[?]

Box 27 Folder 10 Biography

Box 27 Folder 11 Suggested reading and resources list

Box 27 Folder 12 “More About Asthma,” 1995 July 25

Box 27 Folder 13 Picture list with notes

Box 27 Folder 14 Edited manuscript, 1995 March 21

Box 27 Folder 15 Edited manuscript with correspondence, 1995 May 16-17

Box 27 Folder 16 Edited manuscript, 1995 May 16

Box 27 Folder 17 Manuscript - submitted, 1995 May 16

Box 27 Folder 18

Edited manuscript - known as Siri and Her Asthma, 1995 June 26

Box 27 Folder 19 Edited manuscript, 1995 July 3

Box 27 Folder 20 Edited manuscript, 1995 July 21

Box 27 Folder 21

Edited manuscript with corrections by Dr. Bucholtz, correspondence included, 1995 August 3

Box 27 Folder 22

Pages of designer set with correspondence, 1995 May 25 - known as Siri's Asthma

Box 27 Folder 23 Faxed copy of designer set, 1995 August 1

Box 27 Folder 24

Notes and brochures on asthma - from unmarked manila envelope

Big Brother Dustin(1997) Box 24 Folder 2

1995 February 2 manuscript -known as Ready for Mary Ann

Box 24 Folder 3

1995 December 18-19 edited manuscript- known as Ready for Mary Ann

Box 24 Folder 4 1996 April 25 manuscript

Box 26 Folder 2 Correspondence and rewrite notes

Box 26 Folder 3 Page proofs, 1996 July 15

Box 26 Folder 4 Page proofs, 1996 July 26

Box 26 Folder 5 Design set of “photo album” in book, 1996 August 7

Series: Short Stories

Box 21 Folder 1 “Tree” (1989) galley

Box 21 Folder 2 “The Gully” (1997) aka “Amish Rescue” - 2 versions

Box 21 Folder 3 “Trashback” (1997)

“Bull Catcher,” (1996) Box 21 Folder 4 Edited Manuscript pp. 15-30

Box 21 Folder 5 Edited manuscript

Box 21 Folder 6 Edited Manuscript - 3,827 word count

Box 21 Folder 7 Edited Manuscript - 3,386 word count

Box 21 Folder 8 Manuscript - 7,865 word count

Box 21 Folder 9 Edited Manuscript - 7,865 word count

Box 21 Folder 10 Edited Manuscript - 7,984 word count

Box 21 Folder 11 Edited manuscript

“Jock Story,” 1998 June 11 Box 26 Folder 16 Manuscript - 1,969 word count

Box 26 Folder 17 Edited manuscript - 1,969 word count

Box 26 Folder 18 Manuscript - 1,905 word count

Box 26 Folder 19 Manuscript - 1,966 word count

Series: Speeches

Box 21 Folder 12

“Of Curve Balls and High Heat: How I Came to Write a Baseball Novel” (1997)

Series: Unpublished Book Proposals and Ideas

Box 21 Folder 13 Jim Fletcher proposal (1980)

Box 21 Folder 14 A canoeing book (1983)

Modem Power Box 21 Folder 15 Actual Proposal that Literary Agent sent, 1984

Box 21 Folder 16 1984

Box 21 Folder 17

Electronic Workhorse, 1983 or 1984 (The proposal was on mainframes. The topic was dropped and was replaced by Supercomputers.)

Box 21 Folder 18 Thomas Edison (1985)

Box 21 Folder 19

The Ain't Remover - A Practical Guide to Improving Your Child's Speech, circa 1985

Box 21 Folder 20 Tesla- 1984-1986

Gerard's Race(1996-7?) Box 21 Folder 21 Proposal- 2 versions

Box 21 Folder 22 Manuscript with friends suggestions

Series: Biographical Information

Box 21 Folder 23 Credit List

Box 21 Folder 24 Credit List, 1997

Box 21 Folder 25 Autobiography - early copy

Box 21 Folder 26 Autobiography - copy

Box 21 Folder 27 Page copies of his autobiography from Gale Research

Box 21 Folder 28 Publicity brochures

Series: Electronic Drafts and Correspondence (3.5" Computer Disks)

Original Disks-Series A in Macintosh Clarisworks and Word 5.1 formats

Box 22 Disk No. A1

Wart, Son of Toad / Robodad

Box 22 Disk No. A2

Alamo / Gettysburg / Shoshoni / Colonial Wars

Box 22 Disk No. A3

American Revolution / Mexican War / War of 1812

Box 22 Disk No. A4

Supercomputers / Modern Electronics

Box 22 Disk No. A5

Modern China / Spanish-American War / Civil War

Box 22 Disk No. A6

Radio: From Marconi to the Space Age / Illinois / Monitor and Merrimack

Box 22 Disk No. A7

Revolution Series (4 Books)

Box 22 Disk No. A8

Sheila's Dying

Box 22 Disk No. A9

Up Country

Box 22 Proposals

Disk No. A10

Box 22 Disk No. A11-12

Letters for UW Archives

Box 22 Disk No. A13

UW Archives, Speaking, Drive Test Permission

Dogwolf Box 22 Disk No. A14

#1-10

Box 22 Disk No. A15

#1- Original and Revision

Box 22 Disk No. A16

#2- Revision, Final, Revision, Smooth Final

Box 22 Disk No. A17

Correspondence

Between a Rock and a Hard Place Box 22 Disk No. A18

#1

Box 22 Disk No. A19

#2

Macintosh Word 5.1 Disks-Series B (User Copies) Box 22 Disk No. B1

Wart, Son of Toad / Civil War

Box 22 Disk No. B2

Robodad / Mexican War

Box 22 Disk No. B3

Radio / Illinois / Monitor and Merrimack

Box 22 Modern Electronics / Alamo

Disk No. B4

Box 22 Disk No. B5

Modern China / American Revolution

Box 22 Disk No. B6

Supercomputers / Spanish-American War

Box 22 Disk No. B7

Colonial Wars / Gettysburg / War of 1812

Box 22 Disk No. B8

Revolution Series (4 books)

Box 22 Disk No. B9

Up Country

Box 22 Disk No. B10

Sheila's Dying / Shoshoni

Series: Video Tapes

Originals - Series A Box 25 Video No. A1

“The Creative Process and Writing.” Speaker: Alden Carter, 1985 June 27

Box 25 Video No. A2

Alden Carter, Middle/Jr. High Author Breakfast - WCC, 1990 October 13

Box 25 Video No. A3

Alden Carter - YA Author Speaking About Writing, 1992 April 6

Box 25 Video No. A4

“A Conversation with Alden Carter.” Produced by the School District of Marshfield, WI, 1993 October 6

Box 25 Video No. A5

“The Creative Process and Writing.” Speaker: Alden Carter, 1985 June 27

User Copies - Series B Box 25 “The Creative Process and Writing.” Speaker: Alden

Video No. B1

Carter, 1985 June 27 Note: Video B1 may not match up correctly with A1.

Box 25 Video No. B2

Alden Carter, Middle/Jr. High Author Breakfast - WCC, 1990 October 13

Box 25 Video No. B3

Alden Carter - YA Author Speaking About Writing, 1992 April 6

Box 25 Video No. B4

“A Conversation with Alden Carter.” Produced by the School District of Marshfield, WI, 1993 October 6

Box 25 Video No. B5

“The Creative Process and Writing.” Speaker: Alden Carter, 1985 June 27 Note: Video B5 may not match up correctly with A5.